Orphans

Nann's comment about my orphans being put to good use got me thinking about the origin (and number) of the patriotic blocks. It all started in 1998, and I blogged about it on whatever platform came before GeoCities.

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              Around the World

This block was made for a member of our quilting group as a going away gift. She left in July because her husband had joined the Army, so in the months before her departure everyone in the group secretly made a block using a Red, White & Blue motif. We presented her with all 12 blocks at her final meeting. As an Army Wife myself, I've spent many years living by the motto expressed in the center square!

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It struck me the other day that our young military wife could conceivably be a grandmother today. How did 25 years evaporate so quickly?!?

Vet quilt

The leader of the Community First! Quilters mentioned at the last meeting that she was collecting quilts for Vets and still needed 7 or 8 to meet her goal of 15. With Pink up and running and still no legs for my new mid-arm quilting machine, I decided to pull all the patriotic blocks from the second POUT drawer and see what I could create from those in my spare sewing time. 

There were only 7 large (or large-ish) blocks ready to go.

Devil Cloth

This is my sewing room window in the afternoon. I wish I could say that's just a glare, but it's not--just generic grime (outside and in, probably).

For years I'd been hanging onto a picture of a log cabin wallhanging made with organza (I believe) which gave an illusion of stained glass when the light shone through (can I find that picture today? Not even if my life depended on it!) It had been a fleeting idea to duplicate it one day.

Then last week I noticed this going on behind my back and in front of my back:

First 2019 Finish

At long last, this simple 9-patch is finished!

60" x 72"

Way back when (20+ years ago), when I was still in a bee and participating in block swaps, I managed to accumulate in the neighborhood of 68 of these large 9-patch blocks. This was my first use of them--roughly 10 years ago I went through the pile and pulled the blocks that would complement the border fabric (which I lurve! Unfortunately, it looks washed out from a distance.) The posts were created from my 1.5" collection of squares, then strips cut from stash for the sashing.

Once the top was complete, it hung on my To Be Quilted rack, with the dark green flannel I had chosen for backing, for years. I'm in the midst of my 4-year "Just Say No/Get It Finished!" plan, so this was an obvious choice to complete. Besides, I want to love it on my bed, not just look at it on the rack!

Cue "Dragnet"

Dun-duh-dun-dun. Dun-duh-dun-dun: DONE!

The unremarkable and non-memorable block exchange quilt is finished, washed & dried, and bagged up ready for delivery to my friend for further donation.

48" x 72"

The quilting on this is a butterfly stipple pattern. When I have multiple colors and shades as in this quilt, I prefer to use a stick-on method of marking the quilt pattern, rather than try to find a single color of chalk or erasable pen. Those will usually become invisible at least half the time, based on the fabric hue I'm trying to mark.

Rules help control the fun!

I don't remember this block exchange. At all.

But I figure it was probably the last one in which I participated while I was still active in a quilting bee, because as I pulled block after block from the drawer in which they were stashed, I began to understand why they had languished for over 10 years: there were very few usable blocks.

Most of the blocks I received in exchange for the (well made, correctly-sized) blocks I had assembled were undersized and skimpy. I ended up unstitching most of them, reusing anything I could. Most of the pieces ended up in my Box o' Triangles because they had been cut too small to begin with. Some of the small squares could be reused, but this "exchange" project ended up being 90% my own fabric.

If I hadn't realized it then, I certainly figured it out while getting this project assembled and out of the UFO drawer: I don't enjoy group efforts if the group doesn't meet my standards. All I ask is that the rules be followed! If you can't accomplish a 6.5" square, please don't dilute the efforts of those of us who can!

I'm not a floral kind of gal, but I was pleasantly surprised at the design that formed as the blocks went up. This'll get donated to a former chorus member who distributes lap quilts to shut-ins, through her church ministry.

A side of Nope

Ugh!

I knew I'd have to adjust the side borders, using a 3/4" strip of focus fabric to stretch the final measurement to fit the side measurement. (I also had to adjust the top/bottom borders by trimming off a bit from each side of each block, but that didn't show as much.) But I didn't actually put the borders up on the design wall to see the effect. So this happened:

Naturally, I didn't see it until everything was sewn together. That's a big side of NOPE!